Plumbing question from return to tank.

[Trex420]

Hey all. I know some of you read my post a few weeks back titled: "Suggestions on a return pump for a 75 gal?ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=793375

After many hours of research I am stuck. I would like to go with an in-line external not submersible/ external type pump. The problem is space. My sump is 36" long and I have 47" width total under the tank to work with, this leaves a space roughly 11" wide and 17" deep. The external pumps are all around 11" long, if used in an in-line fashion with the sump I simply don't have enough room. What would you all think about placing a 1.5" flexible hose between the sump and pump and placing the pump at a 45-90 deg angle to the sump? It is the only thing I can think of to be able to use a true external pump. I could also use rigid PVC but I think I would have more head loss. I've looked at all the external pumps on MarineDepot.com and Thatpetplace.com and they are all around 10.5 to 11+".

 

[artful-dodger]

Bend it like Beckham!

Seriously, just go up one size of flex pipe and the additional friction loss of the bend will be completely offset.

 

[Trex420]

Pump choice?

Pump choice?

So I've decided to just use larger than needed flexible hose. Possibly just using a hose large enough to clamp around the outside of the intake for the pump that is an internal FPT not external MPT fitting.
Do you all have any recommendations on the pump? Only two people have voted in the poll. Any input including other pump choices are not only welcome but appreciated. I've thoroughly researched pump choices but nothing beats personal experience. At this point I've bought enough wrong equipment thinking it was what I needed only to find out I was wrong later. Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

Tom

 

[PSEUDOREEFER]

You didn't add Blueline HD pumps or a Velocity T4 pump (both of which I would suggest above any of the pumps above - the Iwaki, Gen-X and HD pumps are all very similar though). The velocity pump is IMO the quietest external pump you can buy (in case that's a problem for you).

http://www.championlighting.com/product.php?productid=18059&cat=0&page=1

http://www.championlighting.com/product.php?productid=18218&cat=0&page=1

Is it possible to have the pump outside of the stand behind the tank? Or on the other side of the wall behind the tank?(if there is a wall).

If you're looking for the best pump you can get for your tank, then it's hard to beat a sequence. I don't have any personal experience with sequence, but I'm sure others will chime in with their praise

 

[Trex420]

I looked into Sequence, Dart and Dolphin pumps but their smallest sizes are huge for a 75 gal. They look nice though, very beefy pumps. I had never heard of Blueline HD pumps or a Velocity T4 pumps. I will look into them. I'm looking for something that has 1200 gph @ 4 feet.

 

[PSEUDOREEFER]

If you're limited by the capacity of your overflow, you can increase it by remaking the siphon out of 1.5" PVC

 

[Trex420]

The limit on the 2 overflows I have total 1200 gph. I don't think I would want more flow than 1200 gph for a 75 gal anyways. Thoughts?

 

[ktani]

Thought I would chime in on a few thoughts here.

It does make sense to limit the flow through the fuge. However, that being said how are you accomplishing flow throughout the tank? Are you using Tunze's, power heads, closed loops, etc. This in my mind is even more critical as I firmly believe most of our tanks have woefully little flow.

There is some dialogue on how much flow and in my new setup, I should be around 48x with 19,500 gallons per hour by around a true water volume of about 400 gallons. Even that, which is more flow than I have ever had in a tank is still probably not close to a real reef.

There are many pumps you can use, I like Sequence, but others are good too. I would however, put the Dart against any pump out there for overall noise. You are welcome to come and see one running on my 165.

Now back to the topic at hand, sorry to digress. My thoughts are a bigger pump allows you to do other things with the excess water. The simplest is to simply turn it down via a gate valve, but you can also divert water to a frag tray, protein skimmer, calcium reactor, etc.

My new system will be powered by a Sequence Barracuda. The throughput volume is simply too large for the system, but I will have at least 3 T's coming off the return line and going back into the sump and fuge. One of them will go back through the frag tray to increase flow, another may be used to power a skimmer and the third will power the calcium reactor, and have extra break offs for things such as automatic water changes, carbon drops, rowaphos drops, etc.

In my case, I do not want a zillion pumps which gives me many points of failure, it is better to have one pump which does it all.

Hope that makes sense. I would suggest if possible attend one of the new reefers meetings this weekend. Cris would be very close to you and he is a truly top noctch reefer and someone who I learn a ton of stuff each time I hear him.

In the northern meeting, we will probably be covering plumbing pretty heavily as it seems to be a topic of interest across the board.

Kip

 

[Trex420]

I have a Wave Creator WV-1 with several power heads currently. Things are still being bought. Kinda piece meal since I can't afford all the stuff at once. I would like to setup a closed loop but I don't think it will fit under my canopy with my Tek light in there. I hear what you are saying about so many pumps. Definitely sets you up for more chances for problems. I would like to go with an extra heavy duty pump but I think a pump of 3600 gph is a little much. I'll stick to a lower rating for now. I can't afford a Cal reactor just yet but I'm looking into it. I still need to buy a controller also.

 

[PSEUDOREEFER]

Another important thing to remember is that REDUNDANT SYSTEMS ARE YOUR FRIEND. DO NOT rely on one pump alone (return for example) for all of your water flow because there is always the possibility of that one pump failing. Battery powered air pumps and/or closed loops to keep oxygen up in the event of a pump failure or power outage is a MUST.

 

[Trex420]

Thanks for all your help and advice. Here is what I've decided to do. I bought a Little Giant 4-MDQX-SC mainly because of the large 1" size of both fittings. I've decided to just use flexible hose to connect the return bulkhead fitting to the pump and then back to the tank. I'm thinking about placing quick disconnect couplers and ball valves on both intake and output of the pump for cleaning purposes, the ball valves only if I have the room.